ETF Asset Report of February

February was pretty volatile for Wall Street. Though the start of the month was rocky due to rising rate worries and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, investors digested those threats somewhat at the end of the month.  Plus, geopolitical crisis boosted safe-haven assets like U.S. treasuries, which in turn weighed on long-term treasury yields. This benefited stocks somewhat.

Overall, the S&P 500 (down 3.1%), the Nasdaq Composite (down 3.43%) and the Dow Jones (down 3.5%) recorded losses. Only the small-cap Russell 2000 (up 0.97%) managed to remain in the green. With Russia-Ukraine war taking an ugly turn, things will likely remain volatile in March as Western sanctions turned harsh to close out February. Plus, the Fed is highly likely to hike rates this month.

Though rate hike move is already baked in the current valuation, the Fed’s rhetoric will play a crucial in regulating the market. Against this backdrop, below we highlight the asset report of February.

S&P 500 Top Favorite

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO and iShares Core S&P 500 ETF IVV amassed about $16.34 billion and $9.05 billion in assets in February. Though the broader market was downbeat, equity investors brushed aside uncertainties.

Nasdaq ETF Investors’ Darling Too

ProShares UltraPro QQQ TQQQ garnered about $1.45 billion in assets in February. The Nasdaq, heavy on technology and growth stocks, have been suffering from rising rate worries. But here again, investors preferred to pour assets in the beaten-down Nasdaq ETF. Plus, the index found a reason for a respite in February as rise in rates slowed down a bit due to geopolitical tensions.

Bond Market Were on Tear Too

iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF SHV and Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF VCSH attracted about $2.33 billion and $1.65 billion in assets. Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF VCIT too added about $1.79 billion in assets while Vanguard Total International Bond ETF BNDX hauled in about $1.52 billion in assets. While a decline in rates due to geopolitics helped the bond investing in the month, short term U.S. bonds gained more assets as the Fed rate hike worries are looming large.

Value & Dividend Investors’ Favorite

Vanguard Value ETF VTV and Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF SCHD attracted about $5.93 billion and $2.64 billion in assets in February, respectively. Amid heightened of uncertainties, investors took shelter in the dividend and value investing. The high dividend yield of SCHD (about 2.97% annually) proved lucrative to investors.

GLDM Saw Assets Fleeing

Gold bullion ETF SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust GLDM saw about $2.28 billion in assets gushing out of the fund. Notably, gold was steady in the month as its safe-haven appeal brightened due to the geopolitics.

TIPS to Underperformed

Schwab U.S. TIPS ETF SCHP and Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF VTIP lost about $1.05 billion and $940 million in assets, respectively, despite a surge in inflation. Investors probably found other inflation-beating avenues like commodity investing more lucrative.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.